


Night Song

by Mimm



Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Consensual Sibling Incest, Episode Related, F/M, Mild Angst, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 11:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20656379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/pseuds/Mimm
Summary: After the family dinner in 3x07.





	Night Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SegaBarrett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/gifts).

> When I began watching Bates Motel, this ship hit me right in the feels and turned into a huge OTP. So when I saw you lingering I felt I _needed_ to write you something with these two. :D I hope this works for you even a little.

Norma closed the door behind her, exhaling deep with her eyes closed, rubbing her temples. Finally Norman was asleep.

The evening had been wonderful, unexpectedly so, and for a while she had forgotten the rest of her life surrounding that evening. Now it all came back. On top of it all Norman with his problems, his attitude, his everything. As much as she wanted to convince herself there was no problem, nothing that couldn't be fixed with time and possibly therapy, the evening had ended more abruptly than she would have liked, thanks to him.

Emma had been the first one to leave, thanking Norma for a lovely dinner with a fond hug. Dylan had made a careful suggestion that Norman and he should also let the others to themselves. Norma had seen how happy he had looked all evening, looking between her and Caleb, and it saddened her. As much as she loved his son and as much as she was willing to sacrifice for him, she knew there was one thing she couldn't give him: a real family. 

But she was willing to at least fix what was fixable; give him a mother who didn't visibly hate his father. It was mostly for Dylan's sake but also for Caleb's sake; the teenage Caleb's, the one's who had existed before everything had turned into a painful mess. She still loved that boy. And, most of all, it was for her own sake. She needed to prove to herself that she wasn't broken anymore. She was the one in control.

She walked to the coffee table and put out one of the two candles that were still burning. Everything around her turned darker, shadows flickering around her as she picked up the candle that was still burning.

She remembered Alex's eyes in the dim light, warm and amused as he had laughed at her and Caleb's stories from their younger years, polished and stripped of all the details neither of them would ever tell anyone. She had rarely seen a crack in his serious posture but now that she had seen a glimpse of it, it made her happy. And worried. She didn't have time for this, not with everything.

Not with Norman who had glared at Alex at every turn all evening, making subtle and not so subtle suggestions that he should leave. Dylan had tried his best to rein his brother in but there was a limit. Before long, Alex had become visibly uncomfortable with the accusatory looks and snide remarks, and he had yawned in an exaggerated way, saying he should leave. When he had left, giving her the same pleasantries as Emma had but with an awkward handshake instead of a hug, Norman had looked pleased with himself.

Soon after, Dylan had pulled Caleb aside and said something to him in a low voice. Caleb had shaken his head a little, glancing at her, and his shoulders had sunk an inch before he had gotten up and said that they were leaving, too.

Dylan had given Norma a tight hug and thanked her, and his voice had been oddly restrained, as if filled with emotion he didn't want her to hear. She had understood him and petted the hair on the back of his head.

Facing Caleb hadn't been as easy as she had hoped, not with him standing this close to her, his intense eyes looking straight at her, leaving her uncomfortably exposed. But she had put on a smile and accepted the tight hug. His shirt had smelled faintly of freshly chopped wood and oil, aftershave and warmth, and something else familiar that she couldn't put her finger on. For a brief second she had felt safe, and it disturbed her, so she broke the hug more abruptly than she had planned. It took a while for her to get her bearings back and look at him in the eye before he and Dylan went out into the dark night.

The house had felt empty after that, with only her and Norman left. She had made sure that Norman went to bed and stayed there until he fell asleep. She didn't have the energy for one of his black outs and what they might make him do. Not tonight of all nights.

Now it was just Norma and the dark living room. Between the curtains, she saw a pale glow coming from outside. The moon had risen. She walked to the window and peeked outside. The yard lights cast their golden light that mixed with the silver from the moon. Something moved, something dark, and she frowned. There was a shadowy figure on the stairs, like someone crouched and waiting.

Slowly, as if anyone outside could hear her steps, she walked to the kitchen and set the candle aside as she picked up a big kitchen knife. It gave her a shiver and she felt a little stupid, but she had learned that people in this neighbourhood could be lethal. It was safest to answer that with proper measures, even if it sometimes meant overreacting. Carefully, she walked to the outer door and unlocked it, hoping the clicking sounds wouldn't echo far, and stepped outside.

The night air was cool and a little humid, and she took a deep breath. She had only taken a few careful steps forward when the shadowy figure had moved. Dylan?

Then the figure turned around, and despite darkness she could see she had been wrong. It wasn't Dylan. It was Caleb.

"Norma," he said, startled, and she saw something glimmer on his face. He brushed his fingers against one of his cheeks to wipe the glimmer away.

"What are you doing, Caleb? Where's Dylan?" she asked, lowering her hand that was still holding the knife.

"He left. I'll go, too. Just give me a moment. I promise I won't be a bother," Caleb said, standing up and facing her. He looked miserable, the complete opposite of what he had been only a while earlier. "I didn't know you're still up."

"And I didn't know you would stalk me," Norma said, harsher than she wanted.

He flinched visibly, and it felt like a punch in her stomach; like she had hit herself.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean that."

To her surprise, she really didn't. Seeing him still hurt her, but he was making such an effort, and as much as she wanted to see him as an evil monster, she no longer couldn't.

"Thank you for tonight," Caleb said. "I know I already said that, but I mean it. You don't know how much."

"It was a fun evening, wasn't it?" she said, feeling herself soften into a smile, and took a few steps toward him.

There was a moment of silence, and all Norma could hear were the sounds of their breathing and the light rustling of wind in the grass.

"Norman doesn't like me much, does he?"

Norma sighed, then sat down on the step right next to him, putting the knife aside. The coolness travelled through her thin skirt and made her tremble. She wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's complicated," she said, then paused. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure."

Caleb sat next to her, and they sat there in silence side by side, like two strangers who didn't know what to say.

"Why are you still here?" she asked and turned to look at Caleb who was staring at his feet.

He didn't reply.

"I can't invite you in," she said, feeling her heart skip a beat.

"I know."

"It's not right."

"I know."

"Norman could wake up."

Caleb only nodded.

She felt another shiver, and now Caleb must have noticed it too, because he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Again, she could smell it, the familiarity and the safety, lingering underneath the dull smell of dirt and sweat and leather mixed with aftershave. It was a comforting smell, and a memory flashed in her mind. Warm breaths of peppermint on her lips. An unexpected kiss, quick and soft. Caleb's startled eyes as he had pulled back, but only a few inches, until he had closed his eyes and kissed her back, light as a whisper. Her first kiss. His, too, he had admitted to her later.

The shivers that now went down Norma's spine following the memory weren't due to the cool night air.

"I should go," Caleb said, and the tone of his voice, lower and more mature now, pulled her back from where she had gone.

She nodded.

Caleb got up and walked down the stairs, slow and reluctant, and Norma pulled the jacket tighter around her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

She would regret this.

"We have free rooms," she said.

He stopped. Frowned.

"At the motel," she said, nodding towards the building further away. "You can stay there for tonight. Just for tonight."

He didn't say a word, only nodded.

Norma got up and made her way down the stairs, slowing briefly as she passed him, then walking faster as if trying to put distance between herself and the mess she knew she was about to make. Her heart was pounding now.

He followed her, a short way away, wordless.

The office was dark apart from the faint light coming in through the doorway, but she didn't want to turn on the lights. To see what she was doing. She went straight for the keys, picking up one of them, and walked out to the porch where Caleb was standing awkwardly, shoulders hunched against the cool air as she walked past him.

The door creaked a little as she opened it. She turned the light switch on. She had cleaned the room herself earlier that day and it was just the way she had left it, clean and impersonal and waiting for whoever would step in through the door and need a roof over their head.

She gave Caleb the key, placing it on his palm, her fingers touching the inside of his wrist. It felt hot. He wrapped his fingers around the key, and her fingers, and she didn't pull her hand away.

"Thank you," Caleb said. "I'll leave the key in the mailbox. I won't bother you."

She stood there, looking at his chest as it moved under his shirt, feeling the weight of his jacket around her. Unable to move.

"Good night," Caleb said, leaving her standing there as he walked to the table and set the key on it.

She walked towards the door and stopped, resting her hand on the handle. After a moment's hesitation she pushed the door closed with her shoulder.

Caleb turned around and looked at her, startled to see she was still there.

She felt lost. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't bring herself to leave, to step out and walk towards the house, to close the door behind her. To leave this chance behind.

"Dylan was happy tonight," she said, her voice a little uneven.

Caleb's features softened a fraction.

"He loves you," she continued. "You're a good father. Better than I've given you credit for."

"He's a good kid."

A pause.

"He really wishes we could be a family," she said and took a step forward.

There was a pained look on Caleb's face as he looked down at the floor.

"I can't forget," she said. "I can never forget."

"I know."

He was staring at the floor now, biting his lip, fighting off emotions Norma could see were there. She could always read his face whether he liked it or not. She knew it as well as she knew her own. Even better.

She took another step and reached for his arm and grabbed it lightly before letting go like it was burning her.

"You're different now," she said. "You're the same, but you're different too, and I hate it. I don't want you to be different. I want to hate you."

"I know."

He was still stubbornly looking down like a boy who was being scolded.

"But I can't. I can't hate you."

He raised his eyes, damp with uncried tears, frowning like she was using foreign words.

"You don't?"

"A part of me does. I can't change that. But no, not all of me."

A careful smile tugged at the corner of Caleb's mouth. 

She had always loved his smile.

"Thank you, Norma."

Norma took a step closer, then reached for one of his hands, lifting it up until it was between the two of them, palm against palm, and laced her fingers with his.

"Whether I like it or not, we're stuck with each other," she said and raised her free hand against the side of his face where she let it rest against his skin, caressing his jaw with her thumb, feeling the slight stubble there.

She reached up and kissed him where her thumb had been, then higher on the cheek, letting herself rest against him. Her hand fell on his shoulder, slid further down, until she slipped it around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder, nose touching his warm neck. He lifted his hand and rested it against the small of her back so lightly she could barely feel it.

For a moment they stood like that, like in a motionless dance, until Norma could feel Caleb's hand sliding lower. For a brief while she froze, remembering.

Caleb must have felt that, because he let go of her and pulled away, unlacing their fingers. When she looked at his face, he looked hurt and sad.

Without hesitation, Norma put her hand behind Caleb's neck and gently pulled him closer. She kissed him tenderly, letting her lips rest against his until she could feel him relax. After a while, he parted his lips a little, and she deepened the kiss, remembering how those lips had felt before, how his tongue had felt against hers, and she realized this was still the same Caleb, the brother who had guarded her against the evils around her. Only this one was better at kissing, she thought, and smiled against his lips.

Caleb broke the kiss, pulling his head back enough to look her in the eye.

"What?" he asked, his eyes still gleaming, but there was a brightness in them now, a smile that hadn't been there before, and for a brief moment Norma felt happy.

"You got better at this," she said.

Caleb gave a low laugh.

She leaned her forehead against his shoulder, taking in the warm scent, and raised her hands against his chest. Caleb wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, locking her in place.

"What are we going to do?" she muttered against his neck.

"I don't know."

Neither did Norma, not really. She knew what she should do. She also knew what she wanted to do. The two weren't the same thing. They rarely were.

She kissed his neck, touching his skin with her tongue, tasting the salt, feeling the steady beats of his pounding heart. Same as hers.

Always the same as hers.

Norma realized she had already made her decision. It was only now that she accepted it.

She pulled away and gently shrugged off the jacket that she was still wearing, and dropped it on the chair.

Looking at Caleb's face, those familiar features that had haunted her for years, those eyes that so rarely smiled anymore, she knew.

With steady fingers, she began to unbutton her blouse.


End file.
